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Experimental data in science and engineering is data produced by a measurement, test method, experimental design or quasi-experimental design. In clinical research any data produced are the result of a clinical trial. Experimental data may be qualitative or quantitative, each being appropriate for different investigations.
A criticism of quantitative coding approaches is that such coding sorts qualitative data into predefined categories that are reflective of the categories found in objective science. The variety, richness, and individual characteristics of the qualitative data are reduced or, even, lost.
The ease of quantification is one of the features used to distinguish hard and soft sciences from each other. Scientists often consider hard sciences to be more scientific or rigorous, but this is disputed by social scientists who maintain that appropriate rigor includes the qualitative evaluation of the broader contexts of qualitative data.
For example, based on analysis of the history of science, Kuhn concludes that "large amounts of qualitative work have usually been prerequisite to fruitful quantification in the physical sciences". [8] Qualitative research is often used to gain a general sense of phenomena and to form theories that can be tested using further quantitative research.
Social research methodologies can be classified as quantitative and qualitative. [1] Quantitative designs approach social phenomena through quantifiable evidence, and often rely on statistical analyses of many cases (or across intentionally designed treatments in an experiment) to create valid and reliable general claims.
Qualitative properties are properties that are observed and can generally not be measured with a numerical result, unlike quantitative properties, which have numerical characteristics. Description [ edit ]
Research design varies by field and by the question being investigated. Many researchers combine qualitative and quantitative forms of analysis to better answer questions that cannot be studied in laboratory settings, particularly in the social sciences and in education.
Qualitative descriptions or distinctions are based on some quality or characteristic rather than on some quantity or measured value. Qualitative may also refer to: Qualitative property, a property that can be observed but not measured numerically; Qualitative research, a research paradigm focusing on non-quantifiable measurements